Action Research: A Tool for Innovation

How can I better support this child’s development? How can I change the environment to encourage more exploration? More autonomy? How can I create a more inclusive and caring community? How can I more effectively teach a curriculum concept?

Questions are at the heart of effective Montessori teaching. Questions are at the heart of innovation. Answering our questions is the purpose of action research, a tool for innovation in teaching and school administration.

At its foundation, the dynamic Montessori method encourages a regular practice of careful observation and reflection; these practices inform careful decision-making that results in changes to environment preparation, curriculum delivery, communication, and relationships. Action research adds a dimension to these practices whereby the teacher researcher collects data in a systematic way to evaluate the innovations they are trying related to child and family education. Data will certainly include observational data, but might also include interviews, surveys, checklists and work samples. What makes action research so unique in the research world is that the researcher is at the heart of the study and involved in the study. Action research also tends to foster collaboration as teachers and administrators seek to work together and to focus on their questions and explorations through varied lenses.

Many Montessori teachers start using action research as part of their teacher education programs for their year-long projects; others are inspired to try the tool as a result in their participation in professional development (such as our own AMS Emerging Leaders Program) or perhaps by participating in Professional Learning Communities. When an educator begins to use the tool of action research to guide their innovation and decision making, they are starting a spiral of improvement which mirrors the recapitulation of the Montessori method–going more in depth as one refines one’s understanding. The teacher researcher questions, observes, acts (action includes implementing a change, gathering and analyzing data), reflects and evaluates, and then—based on that evaluation—derives a new related question, observes, acts and reflects. 

Lower elementary Montessori teacher Markel Lockwood (2014) sought to build a respectful community in her classroom. Her initial research cycle introduced children to the vocabulary to use in acknowledging each other’s kindness and contributions to the class. Subsequently she introduced more peer tutoring and collaborative projects. Finally, what was now a harmonious classroom community took on a community service project.

If you want to begin using Action Research as a tool in your classroom, school or program, you might start by reading the AMS white paper Action Research in Montessori Classrooms. Although action research is designed to create change in a particular classroom or school and thus is not necessarily generalizable, Montessori teachers who share a pedagogy and philosophy often find that a solution or innovation applied to a classroom relates to their own circumstances (Ward& Miller, 2019). Thus, dissemination is very important at local, regional, and national conferences and in educator magazines and journals. There are several sample studies on the AMS website under the Research Library.

Action research is a tool that can help Montessori teachers to be innovative designers and problem solvers as they strive to support students in maximizing their potential in an ever-changing world.